TRAVEL FEATURE - AUSTRALIA
AARON STEINMANN
YOU
WILL GET IT
BACK
It was almost that feeling , when you know you ’ re about to crash and things slow down , my heart sank then kicked into double time when I realised it really wasn ’ t there . It was gone . It could only mean one thing . My bike had been stolen .
“ It ’ s gone ,” I looked over at the guy camping next to me and stammered . “ My bike , it ’ s gone . Have you seen it ?”
“ I thought it was you ,” a look of shock slipped across his face . “ Wasn ’ t it you ?”
I asked what he meant , to which he explained that he had got up at around 3:30am to go to the bathroom and saw what he though was me in the distance pushing the bike away . My head dropped as the realisation sunk in . It really had been stolen . This wasn ’ t a joke .
Rambling , I ran to the campground office , “ Shit ! Fuck ! I can ’ t believe it . Someone took her .”
Waiting for it to open , I sat outside the office , and without thinking started posting on Facebook and Instagram . The following appeared : I can ' t believe I ' m writing this post . The unthinkable just happened . I woke up this morning to my bike missing . Stolen out of Ayres rock camp ground around 3am . A camper next to me saw someone pushing it away thinking it was me . 2015 KTM500exc Vin VBKEXA401FM493995 . Heartbroken isn ' t even close to how I ' m feeling . With my head in a whirlwind , wondering what to do next , I walked back to my tent , the campground staff had called the police .
This wasn ’ t just any motorcycle , it was mine , and a little more special than most .
A KTM 500EXC , I ’ d been told by many that “ it wasn ’ t made to do long distances ”. Three years later , it had taken me over 130,000 kilometres
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